Aydus 4 – Bamidbar – Light of Thousands to Hundreds – A Minyan Brings Blessing – Baruch Shem Kevod – Yericho – Shoftim – 2 Witnesses Needed to Prosecute – Rabbi Rosenfeld zal on Maaser – Two Are Better Than One – False Unity – Bris Milah – A Jewish Name Contains the Name of HaShem – Speaker: Rabbi Nasan Maimon.
Hilkhos Aydus 4 is based on Sichos HaRan 93: “There is a singular light that shines in a thousand worlds”.
00:00 – PARAGRAPH 8. Parshas Bamidbar. The encampment and traveling formation of the shevatim – 12 tribes of Israel – are aspects of the Light of Thousands.
04:00 – The progress of souls entering the physical world proceeds from thousands – to hundreds – to tens – to a singular unit. When souls join together in the physical world, they can reconnect to the highest level of light – Light of Thousands.
06:30 – PARAGRAPH 9. Certain holy tasks require a congregation of 10 Jewish men – a minyan. A minyan brings blessing. Each Jew is a unit of 100, because we are obligated to make 100 blessings every day. So when 10 Jewish men join together for tefilah, they become as a thousand. This enables their gathering to draw holiness into the physical world from the highest level of Light of Thousands.
09:00 – Q&R about bringing the Light of Thousands into the physical world through the numbers of the shevatim.
09:45 – No two people think alike. Beis Din enables the revelation of truth from the confusion of diversity. One person alone doesn’t have the ability to draw the light from thousands to hundreds.
11:20 – טוֹבִ֥ים הַשְּׁנַ֖יִם מִן־הָֽאֶחָ֑ד אֲשֶׁ֧ר יֵֽשׁ־לָהֶ֛ם שָׂכָ֥ר ט֖וֹב בַּֽעֲמָלָֽם – “Two are better than one, since they have good reward for their toil” (Koheles 4:9).
12:10 – The people of Yericho did not recite “Baruch Shem Kevod Malkhus LeOlam Vaed”, which was instituted by the Anshei Knesses HaGadolah as the “second witness” to the aydus of saying the Shema. This was a serious mistake since it was a form of false unity.
14:30 – “Two witnesses are like a hundred” (Yoma 83).
16:00 – PARAGRAPH 10. Every Jew constantly has two witnesses. True testimony is Torah. Kriyas Shema is testament of our belief in HaShem and His Torah.
19:00 – אֱמֶת מֵאֶ֣רֶץ תִּצְמָ֑ח וְ֜צֶ֗דֶק מִשָּׁמַ֥יִם נִשְׁקָֽף – “Truth will sprout from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven” (Tehillim 85:12).
22:00 – Q&R about Baruch Shem Kevod LeOlam VaEd.
24:00 – Q&R about the sefiros being divided into thousands and hundreds.
*25:20 – The people of Yericho who didn’t say Baruch Shem are considered to have “wrapped up” the Shema, which causes harm. When the Light of Thousands is “wrapped up” in a mistaken unity, it’s not available to others. The result of false unity is fragmentation.
31:00 – יַ֣ד הָֽעֵדִ֞ים תִּֽהְיֶה־בּ֤וֹ בָרִֽאשֹׁנָה֙ לַֽהֲמִית֔וֹ – “The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death” (Devarim 17:7, Shoftim).
*32:40 – PARAGRAPH 11. Parshas Shoftim. כִּֽי־יָק֥וּם עֵֽד־חָמָ֖ס בְּאִ֑ישׁ לַֽעֲנ֥וֹת בּ֖וֹ סָרָֽה – “If a false witness rises up against a man, to bear perverted testimony against him”(Devarim 19:16, Shoftim). One witness is not enough to testify against a person regarding any sin.
34:40 – כִּ֣י הַמָּ֔וֶת יַפְרִ֖יד בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֵֽךְ – “… if anything but death separates me from you” (Rus 1:17). Death separates.
37:00 – Q&R about the connection between אחד and אלף – one and a thousand. NOTE heard from Rabbi Rosenfeld zal: The name Yisrael was given to Yaakov Avinu when he defeated the angel of Esav. The words מעשר תעשר are begematria 1540. The gematria of Yisrael is 541.
42:00 – PARAGRAPH 12. Bris Milah is an aspect of aydus.
45:45 – אֽוֹדְךָ֗ עַ֚ל כִּ֥י נֽוֹרָא֗וֹת נִ֫פְלֵ֥יתִי נִפְלָאִ֥ים מַֽעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ וְ֜נַפְשִׁ֗י יֹדַ֥עַת מְאֹֽד – “I shall thank You for in an awesome, wondrous way I was fashioned; Your works are wondrous, and my soul knows it very well“ (Tehillim 139:14). The “wonders of HaShem” alluded to in this possuk specifically refers to the development of an embryo inside its mother.
45:45 – “The soul of a thing is in its name.” Reference to Likutey Moharan 56.
***47:30 – Parshas Bamidbar. The souls of the Jewish People were brought down through their names and numbers. HaShem’s Name is included in the name of every Jew.
50:00 – Closing blessings.
To dedicate this shiur, click HERE.
